Any mistake, which is made in the printing of a stamp, raises its value to stamp collectors A mistake on a two-penny stamp has made it worth a million and a half times its face value.

    Do you think it possible? However, it is true.

    The mistake was made more than 100 years ago in Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean, which was a British colony(殖民地)at that time. In 1847, an order (定單)for stamps was sent to London. Thus Mauritius became the fourth country in the world which had the stamps made in other countries.

    Before the order was filled ,that is, the stamps arrived from England, a big dance party was planned by the commander-in-chief (總司令) of all the armed forces on the island. The party would be held in his house and letters of invitation would be sent to all the important people in Mauritius. So stamps were badly needed to post the letters. Therefore, an islander, who was a good printer, was told to copy the pattern of the stamps. He carelessly put the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid”, two words seen on the stamps at that time, on several hundred that he printed.

Today, there are only 26 of these misprinted stamps left: fourteen One-penny Reds and twelve Two-penny Blues. Because of so few Two-penny Blues and because of their age, collectors have paid as much as $16,800 for each of them.

1. Which of the following can be a title for the passage?

A. How can a Stamp Be Worth $16,800?            B. Printer Made a Mistake.

C. Stamp-collection Calls for Much Money.         D. A Dance Party Planned.

2. When a mistake is made in the printing of a stamp, the stamps will_____ .

A. be no use                                    B. be of more value   

C. be thrown away                             D. be worth only its face value

3. Mauritius is_____ .

A. still the colony of Britain                     

B. an Indian island  

C. the name of a country in the Indian Ocean

D. the name of the commander-in-chief

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

 A. The commander-in-chief invited many important people of Mauritius.

B. The face value of a stamp raises its value.

   C. The two valuable stamps were printed in Mauritius.

   D. The two kinds of stamps were at that time not so badly needed 

5. In the passage the word “misprint” may mean_____ .

A. print with a miss                               B. print without permission

C. use greater letters to print                        D. make a mistake in printing

練習冊系列答案
相關習題

科目:高中英語 來源: 題型:

Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on one inexpensive postage stamp has made the stamp worth a million and a half times its original value.

The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the British colony of Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to a London printer — Mauritius was to become the fourth country in the world to issue stamps.

Before the order was filled and delivered, a ball was planned at Mauritius’ Government House, and stamps were needed to send out the invitations. A local printer was instructed to copy the design for the stamps. He accidentally inscribed the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” on the several hundred stamps that he printed.

Today there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds and twelve Two Penny Blues. Because of the Two Penny Blue’s rareness and age, collectors have paid as much as $16 800 for it.

Over a century ago, Mauritius _______.

A. was an independent country

B. belonged to India

C. was one of the British colonies

D. was a small island in the Pacific Ocean

The mistake on the stamps was made _______.

A. in Mauritius      B. at Mauritius Government House

C. in a post office   D. in London

Stamp collectors have paid 16 800 for _______.

A. fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds

B. twelve Two Penny Blues

C. one One Penny Orange-Red

D. one Two Penny Blue

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2011-2012學年甘肅省武威第五中學高一3月月考英語試卷(帶解析) 題型:閱讀理解


The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible. Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up (混合) and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can’t understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor (幽默感) you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes you make. Don’t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It’s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’t understand what you are saying. The most important thing for learning English is: “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes.”
【小題1】The writer thinks that the best way for you to learn a language is ____.

A.writingB.using itC.listeningD.learning grammar
【小題2】What should you do in learning English?
A.Be careful not to make any mistake.B.Write as quickly as you can.
C.Speak English as much as you can.D.Laugh more often.
【小題3】When people laugh at your mistakes, you should _____.
A.not careB.be happyC.feel worriedD.be unhappy
【小題4】The story tells us_______.
A.only foolish people make mistakes
B.few people make mistakes
C.people never make mistakes
D.there is no one who does not make mistakes
【小題5】The writer of the text has a _______ attitude towards people’s mistakes while using the language.
A.a(chǎn)greeableB.negative(否定的)C.neutral (中立的)D.humorous

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2011-2012學年吉林省油田高中高一下學期期中考試英語試卷(帶解析) 題型:閱讀理解

A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year. You may fail in the examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination. A few days before the examination you should start going to bed early. Do not stay up late at night learning things. Before you start the examination, read carefully over the question paper. Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write. When you have at last finished your examinations, read over your answers. Correct any mistake that you see and make sure that you have not missed anything out.
【小題1】“Stay up late at night” here means         .

A.sleeping in bedB.just sitting up without doing anything
C.walking about in the roomD.working far into the night
【小題2】The first thing to do after you get the question paper is to         .
A.start to answer questionsB.work the difficult problems
C.have a look at the titlesD.read it very carefully
【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.You must not hand in the examination paper before you check your answers.
B.You must wait till others point out mistakes in your paper.
C.You must first hand in your paper then correct the mistakes.
D.You must be the last to hand in your paper.

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2013屆山東省濟寧市泗水一中高三上學期期末模擬英語試卷(帶解析) 題型:閱讀理解

Cameron thought of himself as merely organized. He certainly did not consider that he took great pains over anything, he did just enough to get it right. Exactly right, of course, for as he was fond of telling his staff, "if it's not exactly right, it's wrong". Occasionally a worker might be sad on hearing these words, because it meant another hour or so of going over the same bit of work, correcting the mistakes which Cameron had patiently pointed out. And doing the corrections exactly right of course.
Strangely enough, his department had the reputation for performing the highest quality work in the company, and it was seen, and not only by those who worked in the department, as a sort of elite (出類拔萃) unit. Those programmes that had to work first time, straight out of the box, Cameron's men got those. "It's mission (任務) critical—give it to Cameron" was almost a catch-phrase with his team.
It helped that Cameron was not merely particular about things. He wanted things done just so, not because of a personal taste, but because he had discovered through patient experimentation that this was the best way for it to be done.
In Cameron's dictionary, "Take as long as you want" meant that you could work on your task not just in office hours, but that evening, and late into the early hours of the following morning if you so desired. But the project had to be in by its completion date, and yes, done exactly right. Or you did it again.
But he would always be regarded, and not least by himself, as someone who had failed to meet requirements, one of those who just couldn't cut it. You had to face it, if you were not working for Cameron, you were second best. So when word got out that Cameron had messed up, big time, the news was greeted with a mixture of sympathy, and entire relief that this perfection too was human.
【小題1】Cameron was a___________.

A.software programmerB.a(chǎn) chief scientist
C.quality controllerD.head of department
【小題2】"Mission-critical" work was given to Cameron because___________.
A.Cameron's work was error-free B.Cameron was critical
C.he didn't mind working lateD.he had a good team
【小題3】Working for Cameron, people felt that___________.
A.they were part of an elite
B.their mission was critical
C.Cameron was very particular about things
D.Cameron was patient and responsible
【小題4】According to the underlined part in Paragraph 5, what is meant by someone “who couldn't cut it” ?
A.He didn’t cut corners.B.He wasn't good enough.
C.He had the wrong measurements.D.He was a perfection.
【小題5】What can we learn about Cameron?
A.He never got things wrong.
B.He didn’t allow for any mistake.
C.He encouraged work to be done in office hours.
D.He was often misunderstood.
【小題6】The attitude of the author towards Cameron is that of being___________.
A.positiveB.sympathetic
C.non-subjectiveD.optimistic

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2011-2012學年甘肅省武威第五中學高一5月月考英語試卷(帶解析) 題型:閱讀理解

A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year. You may fail in the examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination. A few days before the examination you should start going to bed early. Do not stay up late at night learning things. Before you start the examination, read carefully over the question paper. Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write. When you have at last finished your examinations, read over your answers. Correct any mistake which you see and make sure that you have not missed anything out.
【小題1】“Stay up late at night” here means         .

A.sleeping in bed
B.just sitting up without doing anything
C.walking about in the room
D.working far into the night
【小題2】The first thing to do after you get the question paper is to         .
A.start to answer questions
B.work the difficult problems
C.have a look at the titles
D.read it very carefully
【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.You must not hand in the examination paper before you check your answers.
B.You must wait till others point out mistakes in your paper.
C.You must first hand in your paper then correct the mistakes.
D.You must be the last to hand in your paper.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習冊答案